Petrol Panic

As I was going home yesterday, I saw queues as long as one kilometer towards the Shell petrol kiosk near my place. It was in short - Pandemonium!

Look at some mathematics again, if your tank is almost empty I can understand the need to fill up, but if your tank is half full, you will probably save RM20.00 to RM30.00 for that miserable tank that will probably last you a week or so or maybe less. To wait in line for half an our or more to save that RM30.00 would have cost you more in terms of time and wear and tear of your car.. would it not?

Sigh....

Then, I re-evaluate the subsidy provided by the government and the framework that has been presented. That gives rise to many questions which I hope the government will addresss:

1. How many subsidies will a person be entitled to? What if the person owns 3 cars and 5 motorcycles? All of which qualifies for subsidies. Does that mean he gets 3xRM625 and 5xRM150 worth of subsidies? Is this one loophole? Can a person then be buying 10 kapchai and keep at home to earn the subsidies? These bikes are after all..... real old bikes whose road tax is free... :).

2. It seems that this policy is only valid for one year. (1st April 08 to 31st March 09) I sense more changes and uncertainties ahead.

It is highly probable that the most affected segment of the society would be the working middle class. Adjustments to their lifestyle will be enormous! I will take from my family's point of view. Electricity cost will increase 20% or so hence I will be paying about RM50-RM100 more per month for electricity. Fuel I should be forking out an extra RM100 a month. Rice would be RM20.00 more. What about the groceries and other goods that I will be paying for? We are looking at a cut in other expenditures by close to RM1000 per month to ensure the basic necessities of the family are looked after!

In terms of usage of the car, for a family from KL, I should be amongst the least affected as one tank can take me approximately 2 weeks, but that in itself would cost me RM100 extra, imagine about other cityfolks..... but electricity and groceries, I think we should all eat less, stay home less, go parks more often... lady folks to have shorter hair that will use less water, shampoo and electricity. When eating out, make sure its air suam or bring your own water! What other money saving activities we could do? Advice?